


Slipping Away

by FrozenHearts



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Bath Houses, Gen, Glasses, Hostage Situations, M/M, Mentioned Morgana - Freeform, Non-Consensual Hugging, Non-Consensual Touching, Palaces, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Shadow Tatsumi Kanji - Freeform, Shadows (Persona 4), Shadows - Freeform, Teddie Needs To Chill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-07 00:03:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11047122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenHearts/pseuds/FrozenHearts
Summary: Akira is hanging out with Kanji and Yu  when they watch the midnight channelThey don't expect to see Kanji's shadow bargaining with Yusuke onscreen





	Slipping Away

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of you have asked for more Kani x Yusuke after my previous drabble, so here it is!
> 
> I tried mixing concepts of 4 and 5 as much as I could so it made sense.

Akira being back in Inaba had Yu absolutely ecstatic. Yu hadn't seen his best friend in a year, and Kanji seemed pretty cozy with that artist boy from Junes lately. Yusuke was rather eccentric, but nice and Yu was glad to see Kani actually smiling these days.

"Yusuke said he was here," Akira mentioned as the three of them sat in Dojima's living room, the man having taken Nanako out for the night. Akira swallowed a mouthful of rice, "Did he say he was going to stop by?"

Yu looked at Kanji, who shrugged as he reached for a bowl of thin noodles, "Said he was going to walk around the park, paint some of the pond for a bit."

Akira nodded, "Always painting, that one. Has he shown you some of his work?"

Kanji made a non-committal grunt. The two had showed Yu some of his pieces, the most recent being a portrait of a group of costumed heroes. As he explained the names and colors, Yu thought it was one of the most personal pieces Yusuke had shared. The emotion was obvious on Yusuke's face, and Kanji blushed as Yusuke looked to him as if waiting for his approval.

"Said it was called Phantom Theives or something," Kanji said nonchalantly, "Sounded really cool."

Yu didn't fail to notice the miniscule surprise in Akira's eyes, how he amusingly pushed his black frame glasses farther up the bridge of his nose.

The name held some obvious meaning for Akira, that much was certain.

"You okay?" Yu placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, "You look spooked."

Akira frowned, pointing just over Kanji's shoulder, "Was the television on when we started eating?"

Yu exchanged a look with Kanji, then at the television. Sure enough it had spurred to life, yellow static dancing across the screen. Two figures were visible, just blurry silhouettes struggling onscreen, merging over and over until they couldn't discern limbs from limbs.

"The midnight channel," Yu murmured, narrowing his eyes as the images became clearer- Kanji's shadow, and a figure in a mask.

"Fox?!" Akira blurted suddenly as they watched. Yu raised an eyebrow- he wasn't sure who this "Fox" was but it was obvious he was in trouble with the way Kanji's shadow was all over him.

Yu turned to Kanji. His face was red with anger as they watched the screen. They had already vaquished the shadow itself, but it obviously had come back in some way.

"Akira," Yu cleared his throat, "This may sound weird, but if you know that guy..."

Kanji spluttered into his food, "Are you serious?! We can't!"

"What choice do we have?" Yu hissed, "He knows that guy!"

They went back and forth. Akira was sitting with his eyes glued to the television. After a few minutes, Yu finally got Kanji to fall back on his argument.

They were taking Akira into the telelvision.

\-------

Yusuke didn't know how he ened up here. One second he was in the town, passing by the window of a shop, the next he found himself flung into thr Metaverse.

As far as he knew the other Phantom Theives were not here. Morgana was not here. Steam billowed around him, and he could feel warm water and soap seeping into his Thief costume. He could tell it was some sort of bathing facility, with tiled floors and towels hanging from the walls. 

Yusuke was glad he wore his mask, even if no one else was here. He wondered how Morgana would take it if he knew you could get to the Metaverse through a television.

Footsteps sounded faintly, but Yusuke couldn't pinpoint the direction. Skin slapped wetly against tile and as Yusuke started moving in what he thought was the right direction, the steam seemed to thicken, choking him until he was crawling along the floor. White fog encroached his vision until he came to a stand still, leaning himself against a wall to catch his breath.

He really wished Akira was here to guide him. Maybe Kanji to at least tell him it was okay to be scared right now.

Yusuke was practically unconscious as he felt hands grappling his costume, or heard the sickly sweet voice cooing in his ear.

\-------

Yu wasn't surprised that Akira somehow knew about the Metaverse. They yelled at each other about it for a good few minutes before slipping and sliding through the bath house that was Kanji's palace. He was slightly jealous that Akira was suddenly outfitted with a crazy cool Thief costume when in the Metaverse, while he himself just wore a pair of glasses.

Not cool at all.

Akira stopped and hovered for a few seconds, before pointing to the left.

"Fox is that way," Akira said confidently.

"How do you know that?" Kanji demanded as they started in that direction. It was hard to get a grip in sneakers and combat boots, but Akira seemed to almost glide through the slippery floor, as if he was used to traveling here. Yu figured he probably was.

"I can feel it," Akira snapped, sliding to a halt.

Kanji simply followed, and Yu shrugged as he did the same. The wet tiles made it difficult to run, Akira's long black coat flapping behind him. 

No. Not Akira. Here, Akira became Joker. The Wild Card. Yu pushed the thought aside- while it was cool, they had more important things to worry about. Like rescuing this "Fox" character.

The fog was thickening, making Yu skid to a stop. Akira's black coat had disappeared into a thick cloud of the stuff, as had Kanji. Summoning his Persona, Yu held the card ready- he could hear Kanji arguing with his Shadow, agitation obvious in his voice; Akira could be seen in flashes of black, never able to be pinned down.

And then he saw Yusuke, or at least who he thought was Yusuke. The guy was wearing a dark blue, almost black jumpsuit with a high white collar and mask shrouding his face. Boots slid across the wet tiles as he pressed himself up against the wall, as far away from the fight as he could be.

"Fox!" Akira- no, Joker- called for his friend, "Are you alright?"

He nodded, chin dipping towards his chest as he breathed heavily. Akira reached forward with a red leather covered hand, whispering something in his ear. Fox nodded.

The white kitsune mask fell away, revealing Yusuke's frightened expression.

"K-Kanji..." Yusuke managed between breaths, "Was that...."

"My Shadow, yeah," Kanji admitted solomnly, slowly crouching down next to the other boy, "Thought I beat it. Guess I got some work to do."

Yusuke nodded. Yu looked at his shoes, unsure of what to himself. Akira had set off to secure the perimeter, glimpses of red and black flashing from the corner of his eye.

"Let's get back home," Yu coughed, "I think Yusuke needs to rest."

Kanji held Yusuke's hand as if he were afraid his Shadow might pop up again, as they made their way back to the television. Akira didn't say anything, and neither did Yu.

Yu didn't think his new friends would be targeted by the midnight channel. He'd have to contact Naoto to investigate this further.

**Author's Note:**

> So I left it a bit more open ended than I originally planned but I hope you like this nonetheless!


End file.
